qwazse

Use very simple rules. A short list that a co-teacher helped my 3-4th grade Sunday School class come up with many years ago: 1. Respect others, 1.a. Talk in turn, 1.b Show kindness. 2. Stay on task. 3. Have fun. Have them on the wall to point to if a child is disruptive. (E.g., if he's complaining about a snack, point to rule #3. Scouting is about being comfortable in your own skin. So, you must learn the discipline of finding joy even when you would prefer things to be different.) Use very simple consequences. The kids need to know that you are there to "help" them succeed with the rules: 1. Warning. "Kids, sometimes you don't even realize you're breaking a rule, that's okay we'll help you by letting you know once." 2. Quiet Corner. "Sometimes it is hard to follow a rule even after being warned, especially in the middle of us doing stuff. If that's the case, you will find a corner to sit quietly until you think you can come back to follow the rules." 3. Parents. "If you can't handle the quiet corner, that's okay. We'll call your mom and dad, and they can sit with you, or maybe take you elsewhere. As soon as you think you can come back and follow the rules, we'd be glad to have you." It's really tough for kids on the Autism spectrum. The least little disturbance can push them over the edge. But, it means a lot if you will step through the discipline process efficiently so as to *help them* succeed.

Yeah, NAE. BD and I aren't all that bothered about the young women who are out hunting and fishing with their families, or the ones in girl scout troops where the mom steps it up and provides a serious outdoor program. I do have a few of those, I'm sure BD wishes he had a few more. We're looking to serve the young women who as girls kept watching their brothers go on outings while they were "shut out" between ages 11-13, and now need to challenge their "comfort level" before they can even relax enough to enjoy the outdoors. They've become "mall girls", and for a number of reasons it's in our nation's best interest if we can "un-Disneyfy" them at least a little. If you don't have that problem in your neck of the woods, consider yourself fortunate!

Two things you have to ask yourself: 1. Who pays for the testing? 2. Will it be reliable? It's one thing to screen folks for routine 1-on-1 contact. But there should be no 1-on-1 contact in the BSA! Is there a test that will find the guy/gal who will violate the 1-on-1 principle? Can you identify the person who will assault their colleague before the do it?

NAE, Please define staff? At the course which I attended we had some boy scouts teach a few segments (e.g., they demonstrated model campsites). Was that what you were talking about? Or, were these kids also guides and instructors? I find 14 y.o. WB-ers a little discouraging, not because it hurts the course, but kids only have so much time, and we need ambitious youth like that investing in youth programs like Kodiak treks.

My two favorites: 1. Two altoids tins: one for partial blue cards, one for completed blue cards. Store in the box where he keeps his MB sash. 2. 3-ring binder + baseball card sleeves. A divider for completed cards, partials of required badges, partials of elective badges. Either way, make sure he records the names of completed MB's in his handbook. From the incomplete ones -- especially electives, I would have him pick one that he will work on immediately, and only focus on the requirements for that. If there's a roadblock, he can switch to another badge. But, when I ask my scouts after first class "What's the plan?", I expect them to be able to tell me the rank requirements they need, which badge are they working on right now, and which ones are "on deck."

If it can be done without being a distraction to the boys, you should do it. TT, I know some places "in visual range of others" in your neck of the woods that at certain times (e.g. Spring Break) would pose a serious distraction.

Troop policy. I'd wager there's some history behind it. Maybe packs weren't giving feedback when a DC wasn't measuring up to expectations, and the boys were starting to use the position (maybe not in that pack, but others) as a way to do little but get credit for rank advancement. Maybe there was a time when every so many boys were DC's and none of them were free to be PL or QM. Anyway, you would do well to talk to the SM and ask why that's the troop policy.

Not sure what kind of smoke-and-mirrors my council will take. Generally speaking our council presidents have not countenanced attempts to ad any more BS (other than boy scouts) to the BSA. What should you do? Well, a scout is trustworthy. I would not countenance any advertising on my unit's behalf that did not disclose that additional costs of participation will include unit fees which may partly be offset by fundraising or scholarships. For example, our crew's current registration fee is $1.50/ month remaining in the year. That ensures everyone will have contributed to the unit charter fee. Then we make it clear that this puts members on our mailing list. (I.e. - your mebership gives you "first to know" privelage.) Event fees are on a pay-per-participation basis.

A scout is helpful: he learns to function independently of adults. KDD, for a lot of us the restriction smacks against the very core of the Oath and Law. Blindly following it deprives the nations youth of the pinnacle scouting experience. (Many scouts cherish their patrol camping memories above Jambo and all of the HAs.) Worse, it could potentially deprive the nation's highway and byways of youth who could potentially rescue someone in harms way. That, at its core, is a paradigm of disloyalty. Our duty to country mandates that we reply by encouraging capable youth to camp overnight in patrols at their convenience. And we will do so with or without the BSA. I would encourage you as IH to consider doing the same. And now, if you do it without BSA, you'll save $24 per person per year.

Wow, Stosh! Lesser deities miht be insulted by your proclamation!

Not necessarily a violation, but certainly a YPT failure

And that's why registration fees keep climbing. We all are getting more pathetically dependent on pros for everything. Way to go entitlement generation!

Those of us in PA are willing to bet a divinsion I college football program that a 2nd adult does nothing to prevent lawers from tearing you apart for thinking that somehow that will prevent a skilled predator from grooming. Get your head out of the sand and think about safety. Real safety. Boys are safer with a buddy.

Oh, for the love of Akela .... Don't anybody dare call national and ask them for a rule! Like BD said, it's a pin that gets swept off the floor at a pack meeting if it's not stashed in a box in the kid's sock drawer! The JTE metrics make no mention of pins. It doesn't even mention summertime activities. Give the Webelos Tiger Pins and the Wolfs Webelos pins and see how it changes the color of the ribbon on the pack flag or the knot on their uniform 10 years from now ... IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. What matters is that the kids have active summers and feel proud about it.

I'm not too bothered about data mining. Anyone who thinks that's not happening with shared google documents or Facebook events is Internet naive.

Another evil twin! Thanks for coming out of the woodwork.

I would love to know how to catch a runaway horse!

Why? Because the likelihood of any further risk minimization with that second adult is very very small, possibly to the point of being unproven. One can imagine scenarios where risk increases with that 2nd adult. This is offset against program being denied to otherwise competent junior high and high school boys. One vital aspect of that program is teaching a boy how to safely interact with adult resources. Teaching a boy that he and a buddy cannot contact an adult in the absence of another adult undermines that aspect of the program. I'm in favor of keeping monsters at bay. I'm not in favor of chasing ghosts.

Sorry, I've found some of the program issues, like hashing out the difference between teach a topic and counseling an MB to be more engaging and relevant to the time of year. If I think of something that someone may take with them to the next campfire, I'll chime in. But until then, like Pack said .... Ding dong diddly um day.

I'd call him a bear from the beginning of summer. Your erstwhile tigers would get the wolf STA. I'm sure some folks here would say the opposite.

Those frames are above the boy's pay grade! But, talk your budget over with your parents, and discuss what their goals are wih their boys. They might just be up for the challenge. Our daughter was cub age when my wife and I took up stain glass as a hobby. That drained our wallet, but my wife made some spectacular pieces, and Son #1 and my daughter did some really nice work as well. I made one piece that proudly hung in a coffe shop for a while until I gave it to a friend. It could have turned into a real occupation for us if we needed it to. So $80 for supplies, and my family gets a chance to make some creative stuff instead of credit card bills from the design store? I might just bite!

You gotta do the climbing scouts!

If members in your troop are jittery about an arrangement, there's nothing in the G2SS that will change that. You're not gonna find a "No 1-on-2 contact" rule, but on the other hand there is no "1-on-2 contact's just fine" rule either. It's very rare that two kids manage to maintain a false accusation (as in the worst-case scenario that Stosh describes), but if you have adults who fear that very scenario there's no amount of writing the world that's gonna make that fear go away. You're stuck. Work with your people. Hopefully they won't cramp your style to the detriment of the boys.

Scouts don't like to repeat the subject they like the least. Unfortunately, that's usually the skill that needs repeating. I have boy scouts who keep forgetting their flag protocol. They complain. We ignore them. Make them do it until they achieve flawless execution. Every patrol has to be its stand-alone color guard by the end of the year.

Looks like you just answered your question.